Andrea Raccagni got his second top ten of the season, this time on home soil.
Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, a competition where our team took the overall glory in 2023, rolled out this year from Ferrara and took on some long, straight roads to Bondeno, a small town in Emilia-Romagna who has featured twice on the route of Il Giro, in the ’50 and 2016.
Five riders decided to animate the 174.5km stage from the breakaway and got to open a maximum gap of two minutes before some of the teams interested in a bunch sprint took over the reins at the front of the peloton and cut that margin before bringing the escapees back with 20 kilometers to go. The victory went to Caleb Ewan (Ineos Grenadiers), while neo-pro Andrea Raccagni finished eighth as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider.
On Wednesday, the race schedules the only uphill finish of this edition, and the general classification favourites will be in the spotlight as they will try to fight for the stage win and time gains on the challenging climb of Sogliano al Rubicone.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
